


Golden Silence

by TheForgetfulBel



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Accidental Drug Use, Accidentally Drugging Your Friends, Also warnings for anxiety, Amnesia/memory loss, And lots of Protective Zen, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, But we will get the Good Ending eventually, Chocolate Addiction, Drunk Yoosung, F/M, MC has a tragic past, MC is Mabel, MC is Mute, MC is partially/mostly deaf, Mostly canon though, NO reset theory, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Pairings currently undecided, Ray has confused feelings, Ray thinks he's helping, Routes will be mashed together, Slight AU because of her past, Slow Burn, There will also be lots of Cutie Yoosung, Trigger warnings for low self-confidence, Will contain themes of depression later, more tags will be added as the fic goes on, there will be angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-10-29 02:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20788937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheForgetfulBel/pseuds/TheForgetfulBel
Summary: Mabel (MC) is struggling with her day to day life of going to SKY University and keeping up with her part-time job at a convenience store. Her life is unremarkable and completely ordinary until one day a stranger walks into the convenience store. Suddenly strange things seem to be happening in her life that she has no control over. As her life starts a slow spiral into chaos, will the RFA be able to help her pick up the pieces?-------------------------------------------------------------Features a mute and mostly deaf MC. Taking author's license with that! Pairings are currently undecided. I will try not to copy chats and have more original ones. Mabel (MC) will have her own past and is her own person. She will not be as strong as MC is in the game and has a timid personality. I was curious how the RFA would hold up with an MC who is not very strong. Will the RFA be able to help her and themselves?





	1. Yoosung & PhD Pepper

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to throw in a note about Mabel (MC). In this fic she is almost entirely mute. She is capable of making sounds, but it hurts her throat to do so. (You'll find out why later.) Also, she's mostly deaf. She has a little bit of hearing, which is why she has hearing aids. Even with the hearing aids she can't hear very much and only if the sounds are loud. She can hear voices and tone, but not the words. She reads lips but lacks the confidence to communicate and is very shy about doing so. So just a warning there if any of that is triggering for you.
> 
> Any violence in the fic will not be more than what was described in the game, although that was bad enough (looking at you Another Story). The tags will be added as the story goes on and any warnings will be added in the notes. If you have any ideas for parings, then please let me know. I'm very undecided at the moment.
> 
> The fic starts off before the Prologue of the game and will be considered Slow Burn for plot and romance. It will also extend beyond the 11 days in the game. There will also be lots of Ray/Saeran because he's an awesome and complicated character and Vanderwood will make an appearance here and there. 
> 
> Also! I'm aware that the default pic for MC has her with brown eyes but in this Mabel (MC) has gray eyes because plot. We will also get to see what other characters are up to, but the entire fic will be third person.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoosung meets a strange girl and Seven gets flustered.

_"Don't cry, child.. This is for the best. Remember, I'll always care for you. And remember, so will they. So don't ever give up."_

"H-Hey!" a voice called out through the tired haze, the voice coming out in a garbled jumble of noise to her.

Mabel looked up to see a boy with unusual blond hair and bright amethyst eyes. She realized with embarrassment that she'd accidentally walked right into him. She nervously tucked some of her hair behind her ear and gave him small smile by way of apology.

"Ah, sorry that I bumped into you," he said while looked just as embarrassed as Mabel felt.

She nodded by way of a reply and looked away as she fiddled nervously with a silk scarf wrapped around her neck. She jumped a little when she felt a hand on her shoulder and her gray eyes snapped up to see amethyst ones looking at her in concern. Her eyes darted down to his mouth to see that he'd been talking to her.

" - okay?" he asked her.

Hesitantly, she nodded while glancing at her watch. Her eyes widened as she realized she was running late for her class. She drew away from the stranger and hurriedly darted past him, ignoring whatever he might have been calling out to her. She knew he had to have been calling out to her, but she didn't have time to deal with him.

She couldn't afford to be late to class.

* * *

Several hours later, classes were done for the day and Mabel left SKY University. She was carrying her school bag filled with her books and papers for the day. Rather than carry her purse, she had thrown her things into her school bag. While she walked down the sidewalk, she checked her phone to see that she had a missed text from her father.

_You better pick up your grades if you know what's good for you. Don't disappoint me, Mabel._

Looking distressed, Mabel tucked her phone back into her bag and took off at a fast clip to the convenience store she worked at. She hurriedly went into the staff room at the back as she moved her cell phone into her pocket and donned a horrid green apron that clashed terribly with her long sleeve pink shirt. She smoothed her jean skirt out and made her way to the front to the register. She still thought it was unfair that she had to man the register, but as her boss said, she couldn't restock items all the time.

Half an hour later, she was standing at her register, bored out of her mind. Since the store was close to the university, she often had classmates come in. They'd give her curious looks when they saw her at the register and she often saw them talking behind their hands as they walked away. She assumed it was about her, but she tried not to let it bother her.

People were always talking about her..

How she never spoke.

How she seemed to ignore everyone.

If only they knew the truth.

But people were always quick to assume she was aloof and arrogant. Even her customers didn't seem to like her very much, but that wasn't particularly her fault. Sometimes she had a hard time concentrating on things and didn't notice right away when they were there. She was lucky her boss was tolerant of her, but it also helped that her boss never seemed to be around to witness any of this.

To keep busy, she was wiping down the counter by the register and failed to notice when someone showed up.

"Hey hey hey~!" a voice called out, but she continued to wipe down the counter as she was lost in her thoughts.

A pair of fingers snapping appeared in her vision and she jumped, a little startled. She looked up and gray met gold as their eyes met. A moment passed as they each stared into their eyes, but then Mabel's gaze darted down to see that the customer had a case of PhD Pepper in their hands. Her gaze drifted back up to see this person had bright red hair and an uneasy look on his face.

Noticing that Mabel was staring at him, his expression quickly quirked into a bright smile and he deposited the case onto the counter for her to scan.

"Thanks, uh.. _Mabel,_" he said as he spotted her name on the name tag.

Mabel had been watching him closely and a small smile grew on her face as she nodded. She rang up the PhD Pepper and tapped the small display to let him know how much he owed.

He handed her the money as he watched her carefully. While she was busy with the register, he spoke to her.

"..Can you hear me? Can you speak?"

Mabel didn't respond as she got his change and handed it over along with the receipt. She tilted her head curiously at him, since he had gone from a bright smile to looking solemn.

"Uh.." the man said, as he scratched his head nervously. "..I noticed.. uh.. you seem a little hard of hearing?"

Mabel blushed as she looked down nervously at the counter. She glanced up at the strange customer to see he was gazing at her intently and she reluctantly tilted her head to the side and tapped her ear.

When he looked more closely, he could see she had a hearing aid in. Even though it was quite small and hard to see, he could tell that it must not work very well, if she wasn't able to hear him earlier.

"Ah," the man nodded. "..Can you not speak either?"

Mabel nervously played with the ends of her silk scarf and quickly shook her head. He was the first person to figure out her faults. He was the first person to even try and guess, rather than just assuming she was being rude.

The man furrowed his brow as he looked around the rather empty store.

"And they make you do the register all by yourself?" he asked in disbelief.

Mabel shrugged in embarrassment and pushed the PhD Pepper case towards the man a little, as if urging him to take it.

The man looked from her to the PhD Pepper case and to her disbelief, he opened it up and handed her a couple cans.

"Here~!" he exclaimed as he grinned at her, gaining his bright attitude again. "You need to keep your energy up for all those customers~!"

Mabel gave him a look of complete bewilderment, and he wondered how much of that she actually caught. Rather than repeat himself however, he gave her a cheery salute and quickly exited the store.  
  
Seven's smile fell as soon as he was out of the store and he quickly got his favorite drink into the trunk of his favorite red baby car. As he got into the driver's seat, he fished out his red and yellow cell phone as he dialed a number.

"Hey," Seven said as soon as the call connected. "I know I'm not supposed to ask, but.. I _have_ to know. They're safe right?"

He gripped his phone more tightly as he waited for a reply and distractedly ran a hand through his unruly mop of red hair.

_"What brought this on?"_ the person on the other line asked.

"_Please,_" Seven said almost desperately, his voice cracking a little on the word. "Are they safe?!"

_"..Of course they are,"_ the person said.

"Right, yeah," Seven said as he let out a breath. "Yeah.. Of course."

_"Luciel.. what brought this on?"_ the person asked.

"..I.. I thought I saw someone with _her_ eyes," Seven admitted.

_"Luciel.."_ the person sadly.

"..Nevermind, I have to go," Seven said abruptly as he hung up.

Back in the store, Mabel looked out the store front windows as she saw a fancy red car peel out of the store's small parking lot. She couldn't help but wonder who that strange man was, with his unusual striped glasses that reminded her of a caution sign.

She thought of his golden eyes and felt a pang in her chest.

She never met him before..

..Right?

* * *

After her shift was over, Mabel waved goodbye to the night shift person and left the store carrying her school bag. Her mind drifted as she walked down the sidewalk, remembering golden eyes and the man who had kindly shared his PhD Pepper with her. It was thanks to that little sugar rush that she'd been able to concentrate on her work at all, since she had slept poorly the night before.

Mabel rubbed her eyes tiredly as she tried to think about what she had been dreaming of that disturbed her so. She remembered she couldn't see much in her dream. She just heard a warm voice speaking to her kindly, but the words...

She shivered and shoved thoughts of her dream away.

The voice had been kind, but it had still frightened her.

She shook her head at herself with a silent sigh. It was strange that most of her dreams weren't visual at all and were mostly just strange voices and sounds. It was cruel in a way, she thought, that she could only hear things properly in her dreams and that those things were distressing.

With a start, Mabel realized she'd arrived at her apartment building. She glanced back uneasily since she couldn't even remember walking there. Usually she was very careful about crossing the street, but now she couldn't even remember how she managed to cross.

As a frown turned down the corners of her mouth, she made her way up to her tiny apartment and settled herself at her table to begin working on her homework.

* * *

707 sat in his computer chair as he paused in typing incomprehensible code. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he tried to focus his thoughts on the task at hand. This particular job wasn't due until next week, but their client was being particularly antsy, which meant...

"You know, you've been acting weird ever since you got home earlier," a deep voice casually said behind him.

Seven jumped and let out an exclamation.

"Madam! Are you trying to scare the coding the out of me?!" Seven said loudly as he sat up straighter in his seat and straightened his glasses on his face.

"Tch," Vanderwood scowled at him. "You've been distracted. You know we can't afford to be distracted."

"..I know," Seven said as he blearily eyed the code on his computer.

He leaned in as he saw something that definitely wasn't supposed to be there.

_Gray eyes._

"Shit," he muttered to himself as he began to delete the offending words. Where else had he written that?

"What? What was that?" Vanderwood said suddenly as he leaned over Seven's shoulder to squint at the codes.

"Woman, I can't work with you over my shoulder!" Seven loudly scolded Vanderwood.

"W-wom... Why you!!" Vanderwood growled. "If you weren't so talented - "

"I need more PhD Pepper," Seven said as he examined lines of code.

Grumbling mutinously, Vanderwood picked his way through the mess to Seven's fridge and then back over to the computer where he plopped down the can on the opposite side of the desk from Seven's mouse.

"I don't know how you can live like this," Vanderwood grumbled. "I swear it's worse every time I come to check on you!"

"You know where the mop and broom are~" Seven smirked as popped open the tab and took a fortifying drink.

"I only clean because I don't want to break my neck walking around this mess!" Vanderwood declared as he made his way to where said mop and broom where. His scowl deepened when he saw they were in the exact same places as he'd left them the last time. "You didn't get more cleaner like I asked you to, did you?"

"My bad~" Seven said in an overly cheery voice.

"Shut up and code!" Vanderwood ordered as he grabbed the broom and started to clean.

It was going to be long night.

* * *

_"You're my pretty little flower~." a voice said sweetly to her. "We'll take care of you, don't worry."_

Mabel woke up suddenly with a gasp, her heart racing.

That voice..

What was that voice?!

The words were already fading as the dream drifted away from her, but that voice had sounded so familiar. Rubbing her chest as if she could force her racing heart to calm down, Mabel got out of bed.

Her bed wasn't much at all, just a floor mattress that she rolled up every day to make room for her tiny table that got propped up against the wall when she needed room for sleeping. She carefully folded her sheets and rolled up her bed, moving it all aside so she could move her little table to the center of the room. With the table out of the way, she was able to tuck her sheets and bed into the corner.

With that done, she walked over to her kitchenette to see what she should make for breakfast. She rubbed an eye tiredly as she studied the contents of her fridge. She had a small lunch made up for school that day, but other than eggs and milk, her food items were a little lacking. With a sigh, she grabbed the eggs and went about making herself some scrambled eggs.

She glanced at her small bookshelf while she was cooking, seeing the pile of schoolwork sitting haphazardly on top. How late had she stayed up to finish? She didn't even remember going to bed, let alone getting her bedding out and setting everything up. Stifling a yawn, Mabel's attention returned back to the eggs when she smelled them cooking.

Half an hour later, her breakfast had been devoured and the dishes cleaned and neatly put away in her cupboards. She didn't want to admit it, but she was a bit of a perfectionist when it came to messes. Besides, she knew she wouldn't want to come back to a mess after work again. She'd done that before and swore she would never do it again. She was just glad that her job after school was only part-time, even if she did have to work every day and sometimes on the weekends.

Retreating to the bathroom to continue getting ready, Mabel brushed her teeth on autopilot, her thoughts tiredly drifting away from school work to the actual work she had to do after school. Rubbing a hand at her eyes that were itching in tiredness, she considered skipping her classes that day and calling off work to catch up on her sleep. She slowly shook her head at herself, knowing she could never do such a thing. Even if she never said anything, she knew her father would somehow find out and would make her life even more difficult. Even though she had a job of her own, she still had to rely on her father's support to be able to afford to live on her own while still going to school. While her job was enough to cover part of the apartment's expenses and food, she couldn't cover everything by herself. It was just too much.

Her tired gray eyes stared back at her as she took in her reflection in the mirror. She had dark smudges under her eyes from her late night and she knew it was one late night too many this week. Or this month. Honestly, she was starting to lose track. If only her professors were more kind about the amount of homework they gave. While University work was much more than the work she had to do in high school, the only problem was that the professors weren't as strict. They didn't hound students for their work or attendance so it was easy to fall into a pattern of missing work or not going to class.

Her eyes drifted down involuntarily to her neck and the ugly slash that went across her throat. It had faded from the angry red it had first been over the years, but she knew it would never be gone entirely. Averting her gaze from her reflection, she covered the scar with her free hand as if that would make it go away. She shoved thoughts away of indescribable pain and the _beep beep _of monitors.

She took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she always did. She didn't have time to think about this, she had to get to school. Her father was disappointed, and.. she couldn't afford to slack off. She couldn't afford to be tired or distressed. She would continue on as she always did, day after day. And so, she finished brushing her teeth and carefully combed the tangles out of her straight brown hair. Her hair was long as it fell to the middle of her back, but most of the time she was at a loss as to what to do with it. Her bangs had also grown a bit, so they hid her eyes away from the world when she looked down.

When she had finished in the bathroom, she made her way to her small wardrobe that was crammed full of her clothes and hastily picked out a plain outfit for school, that consisted of a light long sleeve magenta top and black skirt that went modestly down to her knees. Opening a drawer to reveal scarves of every color, she quickly found one that matched her skirt and changed out of her pajamas. Once she had her outfit on that also consisted of black ankle socks, she proceeded to put on the black silk scarf that wrapped tightly (but not too tightly) around her neck. She studied herself in the small mirror that was hung on the inside door of the wardrobe and frowned at her plain hair. She wished she knew what to do with it. It just seemed to lay there and it looked so bland.

Digging through her drawers she came up with a magenta ribbon and pulled some of her hair back to tie up in a big bow with the ribbon. It was a little childish, she knew, but at least she did _something_ with it. She gave her reflection a bright smile, but it only lasted a second before it trickled away. She shook her head and checked her clock on the wall. She gave an involuntary gasp and knew she was running late. She was definitely going to miss the bus!

Carefully shutting the wardrobe back up again, Mabel rushed around her apartment getting her school things shoved into her bag along with her cell phone. Just as she was about to rush out of her apartment, she slapped herself on the forehead and turned around to tear apart her apartment for her stupid hearing aids. Even with them, she couldn't hear much, but something was better than _nothing_. She hated the overwhelming silence without them, so she always wore them when she went outside.

Usually she was particularly careful when she took them out, but last night she didn't even remember going to bed and they weren't on top of her bookshelf where she usually left them. It took her longer than she would have liked to discover that they were on the bathroom sink. Inwardly grumbling, she turned them on and popped them both into her ears and made sure they were in securely before she looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She turned her head side to side, and sighed in relief when she realized that it would be difficult to tell that she had them in, unless someone was close to her and staring directly at her ears, which wasn't likely to happen.

Giving a silent yelp when she checked the time again, Mabel grabbed her school bag and dashed out the door.

* * *

Having missed the bus and not having any funds for a cab, Mabel wound up sprinting to school as she inwardly cursed her weird dreams for causing her to oversleep. Usually she woke up pretty early, so she didn't even have to bother using her trick of placing her phone on vibrate under her pillow to wake herself up. She knew it wasn't particularly safe to do (potentially overheating her phone and causing a pillow fire), but she didn't have money for a fancy alarm and she knew her father would never give her the extra money for one.

Perhaps if she said it was affecting her studying -

While that thought flew through her mind as she slammed the doors open to SKY and raced towards her first class of the day, she failed to notice another student that was running late as well. He was loitering in the hall near her class and she unfortunately ran right into him.

Mabel had a fleeting glimpse of blond hair before she tumbled backwards in surprise. She squeezed her eyes shut as she expected to fall over, but was surprised when a pair of strong arms grabbed a hold of her. She warily opened her eyes to see a pair of bright amethyst eyes were once again staring at her in concern. She quickly darted her gaze to his mouth.

"You're the girl from yesterday," he said with surprise as he helped her stand up straight. He blushed a little as he let go of her arms. "We should probably find a better way to meet."

Mabel nodded in agreement and then gestured helplessly at the classroom. The boy looked over at the classroom and then back at her curiously. He opened his mouth, but before the question could get out, Mabel was already darting inside.

Yoosung scratched his head and scooped up his poor phone, which had fallen when he caught the strange girl. He thought of how quiet the strange girl was, and how she always seemed so nervous. What was up with that? Abandoning the thought of going to class, he opened up the RFA app on his phone.  
  


* * *

_ **Yoosung has entered the chat** _

> **ZEN:** Hey, I thought you had class?
> 
> **Yoosung:** I ran into a girl before I could go in. ^^;
> 
> **ZEN:** ..!! Yoosung, my boy! Did you get a *_girlfriend?_*
> 
> **Yoosung:** N-no..!! She just.. ran into me! I didtn do it!!
> 
> **ZEN:** lol typo
> 
> **ZEN:** You need any help? ;) I always know what to say to the ladies.
> 
> **ZEN:** **[insert Zen selfie of him winking suggestively]**

"Ugh," Yoosung made a face at his phone.

> **Yoosung:** ....

_**Yoosung has left the chat** _

* * *

Yoosung's disgusted frown disappeared as a text from one of his guildmates popped up on his phone, informing him of a special event that was going on. Yoosung hardly spared a glance at the class as thoughts of the mystery girl (and school) flew out of his head as he rushed off to get back to his computer and disappear into the world of LOLOL.

* * *

The school day flew by in a rush of schoolwork for Mabel and round after round of LOLOL for Yoosung, who would later be bragging about his haul on the RFA chat. As soon as school was over, Mabel had stuffed all her notes from the classes (her professors often helped her by giving her extra notes on each day's lecture) along with her books into her overstuffed school bag and she dashed out the doors and off to her job at the convenience store.

Like the day before, Mabel put her school things in the back room and donned her ugly store apron, tying it off in the back. It wasn't long until she had the register ready to go and was standing behind the counter again, ready to face another boring and awkward day of cashiering. She wasn't surprised to see that the manager was absent (he always was) and also wasn't surprised that the day shift cashier took off as soon as she had shown up, as they usually did.

Mabel endured her fellow schoolmates coming and going from the store, talking behind their hands as they left again. Thankfully they were used to her silence and knew enough not to talk to her or expect a response to any inquiries they might have had. It had been a few hours since her shift had started and she was grateful that she only had a few more to go before she left again. Mabel stifled a yawn as she glanced around the store. Everything was in place and orderly and she really didn't have much to do until the next customer came in.

It was getting to be around dinnertime, so she doubted she'd see much of anyone. Getting out the trusty cleaning cloth, she began to needlessly wipe down the counter by the register for something to do. It was while she was absorbed in this task that the door chimed as a customer came in. Mabel didn't look up as the man grumbled his way over to the display of various soft drinks, before finally picking up a case of PhD Pepper. She continued wiping down the counter as the man stalked down the chip aisle and snatched up the last remaining Honey Buddha chips.

Mabel frowned slightly as she rubbed at a stubborn spot on the counter. Was it stained? She had tried to wipe this spot off yesterday, but she had been interrupted when -

A loud, involuntary strangled sound escaped her when a case of PhD Pepper slammed loudly down onto the counter merely an inch away from her fingers. She had flinched hard, and the rag fell from her grasp as her hand immediately went up to her throat as she winced in pain. Her gray eyes flew up to see that a customer was standing in front of her and judging by the man's angry expression, he had been waiting for a good few minutes.

Mabel spared a moment to massage her poor throat before she hastily pulled her hand away and went about ringing up the items. The man, meanwhile had grumbled something, but Mabel hadn't caught what it was. She took the money that the man unceremoniously thrust at her and she went about putting the money into the register before getting out a few coins in change. When she went to give the man his change, she finally looked up at him and was surprised to see that he was very handsome. He had long brown hair that went past his shoulders and was wearing a dark shirt and pants.

"Thanks," the man said slightly sarcastically as he snatched the change and receipt from the gaping girl's hand. He paused for a moment before sighing, "And I'm sorry for startling you so."

With that, the man grabbed the PhD Pepper and chips and disappeared back out the store as Mabel shook her head and blushed. Why had she stared at him like an idiot? It was then that she noticed her phone was vibrating in her pocket like crazy. She looked around the store to see that it was definitely empty this time.

With nothing else to do, she pulled out her phone from her pocket to see she had several texts. She winced, thinking that they had to be from her father. Had her professor told him that she'd been late to class? The professors normally didn't seem to care if anyone came to class or not (or if they did, they didn't say much about it), but perhaps her father had requested to be notified of any tardiness or absences. With a feeling of trepidation she pressed the SMS icon and her pathetically short list of texts appeared.

With a sigh she saw she had a text from the nightshift worker. She reluctantly pressed his name to view the message.

_Jiho: I can't make it tonight. Can you cover me?_

Mabel stared at the message in dismay. Jiho didn't get off work until early morning! Sure, it was Friday night now but she had an extra shift tomorrow morning!

_Mabel: I'm sorry, I have to work tomorrow._

_Jiho: Thanks, I owe you one. Tell the boss I'll be in Monday night as usual._

Mabel sighed at the text, but there wasn't anything she could do. She sent off a text to their boss to explain the situation and hoped that he would get back to her soon, preferably before her shift ended. She pressed back to go back to the main list of messages and saw that in addition to _Father, Jiho, _and _Boss_ there was now another name in the list. And this name had sent her several text messages.

But who in the world was 707? Curious, she pressed on his name to read the messages.

_707: hihi_

_707: you don't know me_

_707: Well, you do, but you don't._

_707: You aren't saying anything..._

_707: Don't be alarmed!_

_707: For I am the Defender of Justice!_

_707: Seven_

_707: Zero_

_707: Seven!!!_

_707: [707 selfie of him in a black and gold hoodie, wearing his black and yellow striped glasses with him smiling confidently at the camera and his golden eyes looking full of warmth]_

_707: I was in the store yesterday~_

_707: I wanted to warn you that my maid might be stopping in and he's really grouchy._

_707: I didn't want him to startle you~_

Mabel stared at her phone in utter bewilderment as she remembered the customer that had just been in the store. That man had seemed grumpy, but she had assumed it was because he was waiting for Mabel to notice him. Could that have been the maid that this 707 was talking about?

Why did he feel the need to text her?

Had she really seemed that fragile -

"...!!!"

Mabel suddenly dropped her phone when the flash turned off and on all by itself as though it were trying to be a signal light of some sort. She backed away a few steps from where it laid on the counter innocently as she saw that 707 had sent her another text.

Why was her phone acting so strange?

Was it possessed?

She'd almost believe that it had some sort of virus on it, if it hadn't been for the picture of that man with the vibrant red hair on it. She'd remember that hair and those glasses anywhere. But the most pressing question was -

She cautiously approached her phone and picked it up to see the new message he had written.

_707: ???_

_707: Is the store busy? Is that why you aren't answering?_

Mabel's fingers trembled a little as she shakily wrote out her reply.

_Mabel: How did you get my number?_

_707: It's_

_707: a_

_707: secret!_

_707: :o_

Mabel stared at the strangeness of 707's text messages and hastily looked around the store, as though she was expecting him to be looking in the windows at her. She didn't see him, so looked back down at her phone, which had started flashing at her again. She had a strong suspicion that 707 was somehow making her phone do that, and it unnerved her a little.

_Mabel: I'm sorry, I have work to do._

After that, Mabel tucked her phone back into her pocket and tried to pretend a stranger hadn't just added themselves as a contact to her phone as though it were nothing and had somehow managed to get a hold of her phone number. Or that they seemed to have control over her flash.

She pretended everything was perfectly fine as the hours stretched on, with no word from her boss.

She pretended nothing was amiss when she finally was able to stumble tiredly home in the wee hours of the morning, when the usual day shift worker showed up.

She pretended that it was perfectly normal to look over her shoulder every few paces in case she saw a fancy red car following her, or bright red hair lurking nearby.

When she finally made it to the front door of her apartment, she stared down at the single orange rose that lay innocently on her doormat.

She hesitantly picked it up and couldn't help but wonder what was going on with her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think of the current formatting. The struggle with blockquotes is real, but I like how it distinguishes the chat from the other text. Italics will be used for text messages, dreams and emphasis.


	2. Sweet Tooth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mabel gets a sweet treat while Vanderwood notices something suspicious. Meanwhile, Yoosung gathers up the courage to ask someone something while Seven mercilessly teases him. But deep down, Seven's a little worried too.
> 
> The question on everyone's mind is: What's up with that girl?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New warnings added in the tags. Also, thanks to the people who gave me kudos!

Mabel had placed the rose in a tall glass after putting some water in for it and placed the glass on her small bookshelf, where she placed everything that she wanted to keep track of. She didn't have a lot of surfaces in the studio apartment, and since she couldn't put the glass on her table (since her table was moved when she had to sleep), the bookshelf was the next best option.

She had looked all around her apartment after she had gone inside, but it didn't look as if anything was out of place. Feeling too tired to even eat, she had gone about moving her table and getting her bedding out before falling asleep on top of the covers.

A few hours later, she had woken up from the warm and insistent buzz of her cell phone underneath her pillow to see she had a threatening text from her elusive boss that she should get herself down to the store if she still wanted a job. She saw she also had a cheery text from 707, warning her that his maid would be stopping by sometime that week for more chips and would she please save him some? He had connections, he assured her, but until his payment came in he needed to rely on her kindness.

She'd sent a text back asking for the name of the chips and then got ready in record speed and was out the door in less than fifteen minutes. As she rushed out of her building and down the street, she failed to notice the person in a black hoodie with wisps of white hair peeking out from underneath the hood, lounging against the building while she dashed away. She also didn't feel his hand when he reached into her skirt pocket and plucked out her cell phone.

Smirking, the man easily unlocked her phone and began to scroll through her texts. A dark look appeared on his face as he saw the texts from _him._ Scowling, the man left her texts, opening another screen from the main screen and began to type.

* * *

Mabel spent most of the day at the convenience store to make up for arriving so late and to her annoyance, she realized that her cell phone had somehow gone missing. Considering how fast she was at getting ready that morning and how tired she was, she chalked it up to forgetting it back at her apartment. It wouldn't be the first time after all.

Waving goodbye to her coworker after her shift was done, she walked the short distance home as she carried a bag of food from her work. It wasn't exactly the healthiest food, but it was food nonetheless and it was.. well, convenient. Mabel knew why a lot of her classmates decided to shop there.

As she was crossing the street, blond hair and amethyst eyes entered her mind and she shook her head to send that thought away. There was no guarantee that she would see that boy at the store or SKY again. If anything, she was more likely to see that strange 707 than anything else. She remembered her fears of being followed when she got off work early that morning and wondered if he was dangerous at all. It was certainly suspicious that he wouldn't tell her how he managed to get on her contact list or how he had gotten her phone number.

Hmm.. Maybe she could try communicating with that grumpy man if he ever came back into the store? She could at least corroborate what 707 said and see if it was true. Maybe this guy could tell her something about him? It was as these thoughts swirled in her mind that she realized she was already at her building. Shaking her head at her lack of awareness (or was it just tiredness?) she wandered up to her apartment door, pausing in the hall at the small pile that awaited her in front of her door.

There was another orange rose, but underneath that was a small, flat square box and sitting next to the rose on top of the box was an envelope. She tilted her head curiously at the small pile and looked around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She walked up to her door and carefully picked everything up, maneuvering things in her arms so she could unlock her door. Once she was inside, she kicked her door lightly closed and slipped her shoes off. She looked out at her apartment and let out a long sigh when she noticed that she hadn't put her bedding away.

She mentally shook her head at herself again but was too weary to set things straight. She knew it was a bad habit to get into, but she decided that she would take a break this weekend and catch up on her precious sleep. She knew she would be busy Sunday with school work, so it would be alright to take it easy on Saturday. After depositing the newest rose into the glass with the other one, she carefully set the box and envelope down on top of her bookcase and then set her bag from the convenience store next to her bedding as she made her way back over to her door and locked it.

Even though she was tempted to curl up on her bed and sleep forever, Mabel ignored the temptation and wandered back over to her bookcase as she picked up the box with the envelope still on top. She carried it back to her bed and sat down with the box on her lap. The first thing she did was open up the white envelope which revealed her cell phone inside. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, Mabel figured one of her neighbors must have spotted it and returned it to her. Maybe it fell out of her pocket when she left the apartment that morning?

She saw a sticky note that was stuck to the front of her phone which told her she should be more careful with her things. Blushing in embarrassment, she took the note off and stuck it to the envelope so she could throw both away later. She unlocked her phone to see that all was well and that she had a text from a strange number.

_Did you like my present?_

_Ah, I'm sorry, it must be weird to get a strange text like this._

Mabel smiled a little at that, but couldn't help but feel that was probably one of the least strange things that had happened so far. At least this person hadn't gone so far as to add themselves to her contact list.

_I was visiting a friend and saw you rush by._

_I got your number from your phone.._

Mabel quickly wrote a text back to him. It wasn't so bad writing back to a stranger through text. It wasn't like she would ever see this person after all.

_Mabel: Thanks for bringing me back my phone. What's your name?_

There was a pause for nearly a minute, and then -

_Ray._

Mabel went about adding Ray into her contact list, just in case he ever texted her again, so she would know who sent it.

_Mabel: Well, thank you so much, Ray. But you didn't have to get me a present._

Mabel paused as she looked over at the flowers that were in the glass on her bookcase.

_Mabel: ..Were you bringing me flowers?_

_Ray: ;;_

_Ray: Haha.. busted._

_Ray: I hope you don't mind. I've seen you around the building when I was visiting my friend and I thought you were very pretty._

_Ray: Oh, I hope you don't think that's strange..._

_Ray: Did you open my present?_

_Ray: I really think you'll enjoy it._

Mabel blushed at that as she glanced at the flowers again.

..Someone thought she was pretty?

She never thought she would get a secret admirer like that. It was nice that he also seemed to be so nice, returning her phone and all. Looking down at the package on her lap, she set her phone aside and opened up the box to reveal a smaller box inside. She lifted the smaller box out and opened that to reveal..

..Chocolate!

She smiled happily down at them. They were the kind that would have some sort of filling in them, and they looked homemade. She chose one in the middle of the box and bit into it. As she pulled the rest of the chocolate away from her mouth, she noticed that the filling was a sort of blueish greenish color. Was it mint?

She soon popped the rest of the chocolate into her mouth and happily ate it. It was definitely mint. It had a very strong minty flavor and there was something else.. Something that made it very sweet. Without even realizing it she found herself eating two more chocolates before she looked down at the box, embarrassed that she was eating candy before she had even had any dinner. She had been skipping meals too, and that wasn't good either.

Replacing the top of the box of chocolates she set it and the box it came in aside and picked up her phone.

_Mabel: Thank you so much for the chocolate, Ray._

_Mabel: It was very delicious._

_Ray: I'm glad that you enjoyed it, Mabel. ^^_

_Ray: But you should make sure you don't eat too much at once._

_Ray: I wouldn't want you to get an upset stomach._

Mabel nodded at her phone and felt the room sway. She placed a hand to her head as she suddenly felt a little dizzy. She must have been more tired than she thought.

_Mabel: I'm very tired, I've had a long day._

_Mabel: Thank you once again for the chocolate._

Mabel put her phone back under her pillow and shoved everything else off her bed. The dizzy feeling was getting a little worse and she could take care of it all later. She'd just take a nap before dinner.

As she crawled under the covers and laid down on her bed, she never realized that she hadn't told Ray her name.

* * *

A few hours later, Mabel woke up feeling rested for the first time in a long time and felt much better. She sat up and was relieved to see that the dizziness she had felt earlier had gone away. She stretched and fished her phone out from under her pillow to see that both 707 and Ray had texted her.

_707: Honey Buddha chips of course!_

_707: Nectar of the gods!_

_707: Fuel of_

_707: A_

_707: M_

_707: A_

_707: Z_

_707: I_

_707: N_

_707: G_

_707: hackers!!_

_Ray: Have a good rest, Mabel. ^^_

Mabel smiled at the many texts she had and tucked her phone into her pocket. Feeling energized, she picked up her bedding and set her table out. Next, she took care of her trash and decided to put the rest of the chocolates into a ziplock baggie so that they would stay fresh longer.

She found herself tempted to eat another one, but decided she should have a proper dinner first. She quickly heated something she had gotten from the convenience store and sat at her small table while she waited for it to cool. She took a sip of some water, since she was very thirsty and then fished her phone back out.

_Mabel: Are you a hacker, 707?_

Normally that might have frightened Mabel, but for some reason, all she felt was amused by it. She smiled at her meal, feeling brighter than she had all week. Was having a secret admirer making her feel brighter? When she had first seen the gifts outside her door, she had felt flattered and embarrassed.

But a small part of her had also felt... scared.

That 707 had put themselves in her contact list and then the next thing she knew, she was getting strange gifts. It was too much of a coincidence. She hadn't been able to muster the courage to ask him about it, and she was relieved that it hadn't been him after all.

But now after her nap, she just felt so bright and energized. Almost giddy. Why was that?

Mabel shrugged to herself as her phone screen lit up with another text.

_707: Ohh, busted!_

_707: I am the best!_

_707: Like no one ever was!_

_707: My training was the real test!_

_707: To not be caught is my cause!_

Mabel giggled silently at that as she texted him back.

_Mabel: Mr. Hacker, you hacked my phone! You put yourself as my contact, didn't you?_

_707: Ehehe.. ;;_

_707: Surprise?_

_Mabel: You scared me! You made my flash go off too, right? I thought you were going to stalk me home when I got off so late last night._

_707: T_T_

_707: S-stalk?!_

_707: I am Seven Zero Seven! Hacker God! White Knight of Hackers!!!_

_707: I_

_707: would_

_707: NEVER_

_707: stalk!_

_Mabel: Cyber-stalk = getting my phone number_

_707: T__T_

_707: I didn't want my maid to scare you!_

_707: He scares even me, so I didn't want you to be afraid._

_707: Speaking of, he will be there in a feerljels_

_707: wlwrjeklwj_

_Mabel: ??_

_707: The idiot has work to do._

_707: Stop distracting him._

_Mabel: What do you mean?_

Mabel waited a minute, but the elusive 707 didn't text her back so with a shrug she ate her cheap meal and wondered what that had been about. Had someone stolen his phone away?

After dinner, in a whirlwind of energy, Mabel got out her cleaner and cleaned _everything._ After that, she still didn't know what to do, so she sat back down and finished up the schoolwork she'd been neglecting a bit. It was while she was doing her work that her phone flashed with another text. It took her a good while to notice it, and when she did, she felt confused.

_707: Why the hell is he texting you anyway_

_707: You some girlfriend or something?_

Mabel furrowed her brow at that. It definitely felt like someone stole his phone.

_Mabel: He's a customer at a store I work at._

_Mabel: He wanted to warn me that his grumpy maid was coming, so he didn't scare me._

_707: ..._

_707: I'm going to kill him._

_Mabel: ..?_

Mabel didn't get a response back, and so she returned to her work. She managed to stay up until around 11 pm, but then felt her sugar-induced hyperness starting to wear off so she put everything away and was soon snuggling her pillow while under her covers.

* * *

The next day was horrible for Mabel, as she woke up with a terrible headache. It was so bad that she opted to spend the morning in bed and didn't even notice Ray's good morning text until far into the afternoon. She had also received an apology text from 707, stating that his maid had stolen his phone away as a joke and for her to not take anything that was said seriously.

Mabel had stared at the text in confusion when she had finally gotten out of bed and checked her phone. That was when she had seen what she had texted to 707 previously and she blushed in embarrassment at how she had acted.

She was so much more forward yesterday than she ever was! What had gotten into her? She had remembered that she felt so amazing and today she felt so awful. Maybe she was coming down with something..?

Unfortunately, that pattern continued over the next few days until before she knew it, it was Wednesday and she was at the convenience store manning the register. She had managed to set aside two bags of Honey Buddha chips in case 707's grumpy maid ever showed up and was doing her favorite keep busy chore of wiping the counter down. She was tapping her foot as she did so, not knowing what to do with her extra energy.

Since she had to work a little later than usual today, she'd brought some of her favorite chocolate to work and had a piece to perk herself up. Now she found herself with some extra energy and nothing to do with it. After Saturday however, she hadn't had three pieces at once. She usually had a piece at lunch and then one later on in the evening. So she usually felt pretty good in the afternoon and evening, but she always woke up feeling awful.

When she had mentioned it in passing to Ray through texts, he had suggested that perhaps her stomach was sensitive and that she should drink more water. He also reminded her not to have too much chocolate at once, although Mabel had noticed that she had another box waiting for her outside her front door with another orange rose that morning. She was getting quite the collection for her makeshift water glass vase.

As she continued to wipe down the counter, she thought of the work she had to do but was at least happy that all her cleaning was done. She didn't know where the energy was coming from but was grateful for it since she often lacked any in the morning. While she was wiping down the counter, the bell chimed that a customer came in. At the same time, her phone began to buzz insistently in her pocket. Curious, she pulled out her phone.

_707: Maid incoming!_

_707: According to my calculations, he should be there any minute._

_707: He might be a little grumpier than normal._

_Mabel: Why don't you come in anymore?_

_707: Ah.. I'm behind in my work._

_707: Don't have time. >_<_

_707: But_

_707: I need_

_707: Honey Buddha chips and PhD Pepper to keep me alive!_

_707: So my trusty maid_

_707: Vanderwood is_

That was as far as Mabel was able to read since a case of PhD Pepper was rudely slammed down onto the counter in front of her, appearing in her field of vision out of nowhere. Mabel gasped and threw her hands up in surprise, which unfortunately meant her phone went flying too.

It was the man from before! The one with the brown hair that went past his shoulders and brown eyes. The one that 707's.. maid?

The man hadn't looked surprised at Mabel's startled reaction and didn't seem too impressed with the cell phone flying at his face. Quick as a flash, he'd caught it in his hand and set it gently down on the counter.

"I heard you have Honey Buddha chips set aside," Vanderwood grumbled at her.

Mabel's heart was racing at her scare and she was staring at Vanderwood with wide eyes. Who could snatch a phone out of the air like that?! It was surreal.

Vanderwood paused and then narrowed his eyes at the girl. He leaned in a little closer. Something was strange about her eyes..

Mabel snapped out of it, blinking hard and took a step back. She moved over by the register and went to ring up the purchase.

"Tch," Vanderwood said in annoyance. He pulled out a scrap of paper and a pen. He had thought Seven was trolling him when he had mentioned that the convenience store girl (that Seven had insisted was _not_ his girlfriend) was deaf and didn't seem able to speak. He quickly wrote off a short note and then waved the paper in the girl's face to catch her attention.

Mabel started again when the paper appeared in her field of vision and hesitantly grabbed it.

_Ring up the Honey Buddha chips for 707._

Oh! Right!

Blushing in embarrassment, Mabel gave Vanderwood an apologetic look and rushed off to the back, where she had managed to hide two bags of chips away. She quickly grabbed them and brought them out front, where she rung them up and bagged them, placing the receipt inside the bag.

Vanderwood snatched the bag away from her and grabbed the case of PhD Pepper after paying for everything and went to stalk out of the store. Before he left, however, he looked back to see that strange convenience store girl wiping down the counter. Again. He watched her for a moment, noticing she seemed a little jittery. His frown deepened as he left the store.

* * *

Seven sat typing away on his computer as he slurped some PhD Pepper from the last can he had. He had dark smudges under his eyes and he looked rather grim. He'd been texting with Mabel when all of a sudden she'd sent him some nonsense and then didn't reply to his follow up text to see if she was alright. He briefly considered hacking the security cameras there, but then hid that thought away. It wouldn't be long until Vanderwood came back and he didn't have the time.

While he sat there staring at the code that was starting to blur together in his tiredness, his phone dinged loudly at him. He quickly snatched it up but was almost disappointed to see that it was the RFA chat. Still, he could use a bit of a distraction. Anything to get the smeary code out of his line of sight and anything that would get him to stop wondering about that girl. What did he care anyway?

* * *

_ **707 has entered the chatroom.** _

> **707:** 7
> 
> **707:** 0
> 
> **707:** 7
> 
> **707:** has arrived!!
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Luciel, no hogging, please.
> 
> **707:** *all the emoticons!*
> 
> **707:** *emoticons everywhere!*
> 
> **707:** *chibi cuteness overload!*
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** ...
> 
> **ZEN:** HEY.
> 
> **ZEN: Stop hogging!**
> 
> 707: *salutes* Sir yes sir!
> 
> **ZEN: Ugh.**

_ **Yoosung has entered the chatroom.** _

> **Yoosung:** Seven's hogging the chat again.;;
> 
> **ZEN:** Yoosung! Don't you have school work to do?
> 
> **Yoosung:** N-no! Shut up!
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Yoosung, you should take more responsibility.
> 
> **Yoosung:** Jaehee;;
> 
> **707**: Yoosung, what's this I read in the log?
> 
> **707:** You have a _girlfriend?_ lolol
> 
> **Yoosung**: I DO NOT
> 
> **Yoosung:** SEEVN!
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Your typos would indicate otherwise.
> 
> **Yoosung:** Jaehee.. you too.. T_T
> 
> **707:** Don't worry, you have us here!
> 
> **707:** To guide you through this difficult time in life!
> 
> **707:** NOW
> 
> **707:** IT IS TIME
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** ;;
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I'm not sure I want to know what this is about.
> 
> **ZEN:** Lolol. I'm better at advice for Yoosung, Seven!
> 
> **707:** When a fluffy cutie boy
> 
> **Yoosung**: _F-fluffy?!!_
> 
> **707:** and a fluffy cutie girl
> 
> **707:** like each other very much.
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Mr. Han is calling me.
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** **Thank god.**

_ **Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom.** _

> **Yoosung:** S-SEVENE!!!
> 
> **707:** The fluffy cutie boy must
> 
> **Yoosung: STOP!**
> 
> **Yoosung:** It's just a girl I ran into in the hallway at school!
> 
> **ZEN:** Bring her flowers! All girls love flowers!

* * *

"Hah.." Seven stared down at the chatroom on his phone and shook his head, willing the image of a small boy away, a small boy who loved and cherished flowers.

_It wasn't time to think about that._

Ignoring his brain, Seven started to type on his phone.

* * *

> **707:** the fluffy cutie boy must!
> 
> **707:** _Initiate dating protocols!_
> 
> **Yoosung:** You guys are impossible.
> 
> **Yoosung:** I've only met her twice!
> 
> **Yoosung:** And anyway, _I'm a little worried about her._
> 
> **ZEN:** Worried?
> 
> **Yoosung:** I've been noticing her around school more since I ran into her.
> 
> **Yoosung:** She usually keeps to herself and this week she seems more pale and I haven't seen her at lunch much. I think she's been skipping meals. T_T
> 
> **ZEN:** You should bring her something for lunch. Run into her "accidentally" again and offer for her to come to lunch with you.
> 
> **707:** Then initiate dating protocols!
> 
> **Yoosung:** Agh..;; I can't ask her to lunch!
> 
> **ZEN:** Dude, you just said you were worried about her skipping meals.
> 
> **Yoosung:** ...
> 
> **Yoosung:** You're right.
> 
> **Yoosung:** I.. I should..
> 
> **Yoosung:** ...
> 
> **Yoosung:** Igottago!
> 
> **ZEN:** Practice making lunch? lolol
> 
> **Yoosung:** NO
> 
> **Yoosung:** gottagobye

** _Yoosung has logged out of the chatroom._ **

> **ZEN:** I should get going too. I have to practice.
> 
> **ZEN:** ..You there Seven?

* * *

Seven didn't have time to answer since a plastic bag suddenly hit the back of his head with surprising accuracy. Thankfully the contents of said bag were light or else that would've hurt.

* * *

> **707:** wlwrejl
> 
> **ZEN:** The hell?
> 
> **707:** Mary
> 
> **707:** is
> 
> **707:** here
> 
> **707:** _Initiate escape protocol!_

** _707 has logged out of the chatroom._ **

> **ZEN:** Why would you have to log out for that?
> 
> **ZEN:** Oh well. Time for practice!
> 
> **ZEN: [sends selfie of himself smiling gorgeously at the camera]**

* * *

"You better have been working!" Vanderwood scowled as he stomped over towards the kitchen to put away the PhD Pepper.

"Sure thing Mary~" Seven called out happily as he picked up the bag and investigated the contents. "Ohh! Two bags!"

Seven pulled out the two bags of Honey Buddha chips and cuddled them in his arms. Wow, Mabel must like him to save him two whole bags! Maybe she was kidding before when she said that he'd scared her?

Vanderwood soon stomped back out of the kitchen and set two cans of PhD Pepper down on Seven's desk set away from where he was currently drinking a can, so he wouldn't accidentally knock them over. Vanderwood's scowl deepened when he saw Seven cuddling his chips like an overactive toddler would cuddle their favorite toy.

"Stop that and get to work!" Vanderwood ordered.

"Mmm~ My darling~," Seven said as he set one of the bags down and ripped open the other. Soon all that could be heard was the crunching of chips.

"By the way, you didn't say that convenience store girl was as weird as you," Vanderwood noted. "Though in her case it was drugs."

Seven spluttered at that and almost choked on some chips.

"Wh-what?!" he coughed as he patted his chest. "There's no way!"

Vanderwood shrugged.

"She had all the signs. Jittery, dilated pupils. Obviously into drugs." Vanderwood said as he crossed his arms and tried to see what was on Seven's computer screen. "What is this? Are you working?"

"Sure, sure," Seven hastily said as he typed with one hand on his keyboard. "But you're mistaken about Mabel. She's not like that."

Seven regretted saying that immediately since he got smacked on the back of the head. Hard.

"Oww!" Seven complained as he faltered in his typing. "Maaary!"

"I'll 'Mary' you in a minute," Vanderwood threatened and then paused.. as he realized how that sounded. "Ugh, just.. You know how it is. You think you like this girl? You think she's your friend? In this business, we have no friends."

"..Right," Seven said with a sigh as he set his bag of chips down and went to get back to work. "I remember."

"You better," Vanderwood said as he turned to leave, and then almost tripped on Seven's dirty laundry that was laying around. He looked around and noticed that there was a mess.. everywhere. Again.

Muttering something that would make even the infamous Jumin Han blush, Vanderwood went to get to work. He knew if he didn't, Seven would just use it as an excuse to be distracted.

While Vanderwood was cleaning Seven opened a window on one of his other monitors and began to type in earnest. There was no way that Mabel would do drugs, right? She was so shy when he had seen her at the convenience store. As Seven began to type, hacking into the convenience store security feed, he knew there had to be some explanation. And he'd find out what it was.

* * *

An hour later found Mabel rearranging things on the shelves at the store. She was still feeling energized and didn't even notice that the security camera kept following her around wherever she went in the store. The bell had chimed, indicating that a customer came in, but she didn't notice. She did notice, however, when said customer tapped her on the shoulder.

Mabel gasped and whirled around, only to see she was face to face with a well-sculpted chest hidden behind a t-shirt and leather jacket. She looked up to see a pair of deep ruby red eyes set in a pale, porcelain face. She could practically see the angelic glow behind the beautiful man that had long silver hair that was tied back. She stood there, gaping at him for a long moment before she realized his mouth was moving. Turning very red in embarrassment, she focused more on his mouth to get the gist of what he was saying.

She noticed that he had a few things in his arms and rushed off to the cash register. At the same time, she felt her pocket vibrate as her cell phone went off. The man followed after her and she rang up his purchases in record time as she quickly bagged them for him. She quickly took his money and gave back his change, practically thrusting everything into his arms in her haste and unable to look him in the eye.

He was so beautiful, he was almost painful to look at. Why on Earth would someone like that come shop at a place like this!

The man looked more than amused the whole time Mabel was rushing through everything and when he had the bag in his hands, he couldn't help but reach over and lift Mabel's head with a finger under her chin.

"You shouldn't be afraid to look at me~," the man said to her with a wink.

Before Mabel's brain could catch up to what he had said, the man turned and walked out of the convenience store.

Zen chuckled to himself as he left the store and hopped on his bike, to ride to Yoosung's place. That girl was just too cute. He wondered if Yoosung's girl would be just as cute and hoped that she appreciated his helping out Yoosung with lunch. That poor boy needed all the help he could get.

While Mabel was trying to recover in the store, she pulled out her phone to see her latest text.

_707: Falling for a pretty face?_

What. The. Hell.


	3. Sharing is Caring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mabel shares with a friend and Zen looks after Yoosung. Ray also gives Mabel bad advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags have been updated again with new warnings.

Seven couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Mabel on the security camera feed whirl around, looking everywhere but at the camera. He quickly minimized the feed and started typing hastily when he heard Vanderwood pause in his cleaning, but had time to glance at his phone.

_Mabel: Are you spying on me?_

_707: So you were falling!_

_707: Innocent Mabel~_

_707: Turned by a pretty face!_

"I don't hear you working!" Vanderwood called out in a dangerous tone and then winced at how much he sounded like a parent. Hmph. Seven might as well be some wayward toddler with how he acted.

_Mabel: I'm supposed to be working._

Seven typed rapidly on the keyboard for a minute, then on the pretense of drinking some of his PhD Pepper, was able to bring up the security feed. He noticed Mabel had gone back to rearranging things that didn't need rearranging again. Her movements were fast, much faster than normal and were punctuated with her stopping every minute to glance over her shoulder in paranoia.

He narrowed his eyes at the sight. It did seem suspicious, but he hadn't known her face-to-face long enough to tell if this was unusual or not. The Mabel in his texts seemed like the same Mabel, but..

He couldn't help but sigh. Everything was getting complicated.

* * *

  
Zen was a little insulted. Here he had shown up at Yoosung's place like a white knight on his shining motorcycle with food to help make that girl an awesome lunch for tomorrow (it had to be organic and healthy, of course) and Yoosung had yelled at him for coming over unannounced and for interrupting him!

It was like that boy didn't realize that he needed all the help he could get. Although as Zen looked around the absolute mess that was Yoosung's apartment he could kind of understand why Yoosung was upset about the showing up unannounced part. Maybe if Yoosung knew he was coming, he would've cleaned up a little.

"Maybe I'll just buy her lunch," Yoosung said sadly as he stared at the scrambled eggs and rice he was trying to make.

"No way," Zen said as he moved Yoosung aside. "We're making omurice and gimbap. I have all the ingredients. She'll need a lot of vegetables if she's been skipping meals and this'll be perfect. We'll make enough for the both of you since you always complain about the school lunches."

Yoosung blinked at Zen.

"You can cook?" he asked in astonishment.

Zen shot him a look at that.

"I live by myself, of course I can cook! I have to keep up my appearance, don't I? I won't do that eating junk all the time!"

Yoosung tilted his head, looking confused at that.

"But.. but the last few times I've been to your place, all you had was beer and water!" he protested.

"Eh," Zen replied as he cleared off Yoosung's tiny counter and went to work. Honestly, couldn't the boy afford an apartment that wasn't one room? He turned to Yoosung who was still staring at him as if he'd never seen him before. "Come on, start chopping!"

"O-oh! Yeah!" Yoosung almost tripped over his feet as he rushed to help Zen. Yoosung, being so much shorter than Zen just barely came up to his chin. Soon his hands were washed and he was carefully chopping away while Zen pretty much did everything else.

Yoosung glanced up at Zen, his amethyst eyes lit up with happiness.

"Thanks for helping me out, Zen."

Zen looked down at Yoosung, his ruby eyes softening at the dopey smile on Yoosung's face. He ruffled Yoosung's hair affectionately.

"What are friends for?"

Yoosung squeaked at that and tried to straighten out his hair.

"Z-Zen!"

* * *

The next day found Mabel rushing around more than usual since she had accidentally overslept. She had managed to grab all her school things and her chocolates, but she hadn't had time to make lunch. Again. Or eat breakfast. Because of work, she often time didn't even get dinner until late. She knew it was a bad habit to get into, but she couldn't seem to help herself.

Later on in the day, Mabel was still feeling terrible. She had a pounding headache and was terribly thirsty. If she hadn't been worried about her father finding out she would've just skipped out on the rest of the day and went back home to rest. She was so distracted that she wound up accidentally running into that boy again.

"H-Hey!" Yoosung said nervously to her as she looked up at him. Yoosung knew he wasn't the tallest but this girl was even shorter than he was. If he had to guess, he'd say she was around 152cm (5ft) or so. To him, it just meant that made her extra cute. She was so small and adorable!

Mabel saw the boy's mouth moving and blinked tiredly at him. He had grabbed a hold of her shoulders to steady her when she ran into him and he tightened his grip a little before letting her go.

"So.. ah.. I.. um.. youwannagotolunchwithme?" Yoosung blurted out all in one breath looking at her with wide and pleading amethyst eyes.

Mabel looked confused since Yoosung's mouth was suddenly moving far too fast.

Yoosung saw her confusion and turned a bit pink in embarrassment. However, thanks to Zen's nagging, he remembered to bring the lunch that they'd made last night. He grabbed the lunch out of his school bag and held it up hopefully.

Mabel looked from the lunch back to the boy and then back to the lunch. Understanding flared, but she felt so awful. Was she even hungry? When had she eaten last? She'd eaten something when she got home last night, right?

"You need to eat," Yoosung said softly to her, concern tamping down his embarrassment.

Mabel looked away from him, but she nodded.

Yoosung perked up at that and in his excitement, he grabbed ahold of her hand and took off for the cafeteria. He chattered away while he lead her, but unknown to him, she didn't catch any of it.

Mabel allowed herself to be lead to the cafeteria and soon they were seated at a table by themselves. There was plenty of food, but they had to share the container since Zen had been insistent that Yoosung not give Mabel her own container.

"You'll thank me later," he'd said confidently to Yoosung.

Yoosung had been confused, but now as he had to scoot in closer to Mabel to help himself to some of the food, he thought he understood. He chatted nervously at Mabel, only stopping to take a bite here and there while he watched Mabel slowly make her way through a portion of food. He was so glad that she was eating something. She looked pale and had dark circles under her eyes. Yoosung had to wonder if she was sleeping at all.

Mabel glanced over while she was eating one of the omurice to see Yoosung was staring at her. She blushed and looked away but when she glanced back she saw that his mouth was constantly moving.

..Right. He didn't know.

Mabel felt incredibly awkward at that. That was something you would tell someone right away, not after you'd already run into them a few times!

While the boy (had he said his name..? Ugh, wasn't this even more awkward!) was busy chattering away, Mabel ate a little more food and then got out her notebook and a pen. Thinking that the boy wouldn't notice her, she began to write him a note.

Yoosung had been happily chatting away about LOLOL but slowed down to eat some more food and then stopped altogether when he saw that Mabel was not only not paying attention, she was outright ignoring him! His fingers twitched toward his phone as he thought of hopping onto the RFA chat to ask for advice. He'd even risk Seven making fun of him. Before he could decide if he wanted to or not, Mabel had stopped writing and was soon shoving a paper in his face.

_I'm sorry I haven't told you before, but I can't hear or speak._

Mabel decided it was best to keep the note short and to the point. She pretended she didn't see the boy deflate at her note and she set her notebook down on the table. She ducked her head to eat some more food and only looked up when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay," the boy said with his amethyst eyes looking at her so earnestly.

She slowly nodded in reply, her gray eyes watching his mouth move.

"I'm Y - " the boy said, the rest of the word lost to Mabel. She must have looked confused because the boy repeated the word several times, slowly enunciating every syllable.

"Yoosung," the boy said for the dozenth time and finally Mabel understood.

She gave Yoosung a thumbs up and his grin nearly split his face.

"What's your name?" Yoosung asked politely.

Mabel blushed, she couldn't believe she forgot to tell him that in her note. So she wrote it down and passed her notebook over to Yoosung.

"Mabel," Yoosung said quietly, testing the name out. He smiled at her with his cheeks turning a bit pink. "That's a pretty name."

Mabel looked embarrassed and ate some more food to compensate. Before she knew it, the lunch was all gone. She glanced at Yoosung and noticed he seemed a little bit sad that their lunch was almost over. She perked up when she thought of something that would make for a good dessert.

Chocolate!

She got the ziplock baggie of chocolate out from her school bag and grabbed a piece for herself before offering the bag to Yoosung.

"F-for me?" Yoosung asked in disbelief.

Mabel nodded with a small smile and Yoosung found himself picking out a few chocolates. They both ate their chocolate in silence and Mabel put the baggie away, to save the rest of the chocolates for another time. Besides, she knew from experience that it was bad to eat too much at once. What if Yoosung had a sensitive stomach too? He'd already had two chocolates.

"Wow, that's really sweet," Yoosung commented as he tried very valiantly to not make a face as he ate both the chocolates. They were also extremely minty, which wasn't one of his favorite flavors.

Mabel looked at Yoosung questioningly and Yoosung smiled at her. There wasn't any way he was going to tell her that he didn't like her chocolate.

"But not in a bad way!" he amended.

Mabel nodded just as the bell went off to signal the end of lunch.

"Aw, I have to go to class," Yoosung pouted and Mabel smiled at that. She realized the bell must have gone off and gathered up her things.

Yoosung did the same, taking care of the lunch container and their utensils.

"Do.. um.. do.. you.. wanna have lunch tomorrow?" Yoosung asked slowly, hardly daring to breathe. There's no way a girl as cute and pretty as Mabel would -

Mabel blushed a little and nodded.

"O-oh!" Yoosung said in surprise. "Do.. you want to share again?"

Mabel shook her head then paused when she saw Yoosung's shoulders droop. She nodded and then pointed at herself emphatically.

"You.. want to bring us lunch tomorrow?" Yoosung half-stated, half-asked.

Mabel nodded and before Yoosung could say anything else, she hurried off.

Yoosung couldn't help but grin to himself at that, as he rushed off to his class.

Could this be considered.. a date?

* * *

Nearly an hour later, Yoosung found himself sitting in a lecture he wished that he'd skipped. Not only was the lecture extremely boring, but he couldn't seem to sit still. His classmates kept side-eyeing him as he tapped his foot and pen at the same time. He was tempted to start drumming his fingers of his other hand when he felt the familiar buzz in his pocket.

He pulled out his ancient flip phone to see that someone had started a new RFA chat. Almost sighing in relief at the distraction, he navigated into the chatroom, only to be mother-henned by Zen right away.

  
Yoosung pouted at his phone and his fingers began flying over the keys.

  
_**Yoosung has entered the chatroom.**_

> **ZEN:** Don't you have class?
> 
> **Yoosung:** The professor is boring! My fingers won't stop moving!
> 
> **Jaehee Kang**: Might I suggest you take notes?
> 
> **ZEN:** What do you mean your fingers won't stop moving?
> 
> **Jumin Han:** From what I read of the previous chat, Yoosung had a lunch date today. Could this be the source of his excess energy?
> 
> **ZEN:** Shut up, trust fund! Yoosung's just bored!
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Considering that I am typing instead of speaking, I believe I'll have to ignore your order, since I can't comply~ =^_^=
> 
> **ZEN:** Ugh, stop with the kitty emojis! You're going to make me sneeze! Just thinking of cats makes my nose itch!
> 
> **ZEN:** But how did lunch go Yoosung?

Yoosung grinned at the question and his irritation with Zen disappeared. His fingers immediately started typing. His thoughts were all over the place as he typed, almost as if they couldn't sit still either. Why was he so energetic today? Maybe it was all the vegetables! He'd have to be careful that he didn't eat so much at once again.

> **Yoosung:** Omg, It was amazing. We shared the lunch I made and it was the best! She looked really tired though, I was kinda worried about her. But she agreed to have lunch together tomorrow and she's making it! I can't believe I get to have the lunch that she made~ Maybe we can even study together later! Do you think she'd even want to study? Maybe she doesn't like studying? What if she hates studying? What if she thinks I'm a nerd?! Omg, what if she finds out about LOLOL? Oh, wait, I already told her about that. Do you think she hates games? Or maybe she loves games! What if we could play LOLOL together! I could help her set up an account! Or she could already have an account! A secret account! I could've seen her on there and not even realized!
> 
> **ZEN:** DUDE.
> 
> **ZEN:** You literally typed all that out in like 5 seconds.
> 
> **ZEN:** Are you ok?
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I'm finding it unlikely that a girl would be interested in your game. Although I do think that studying would prove to be a beneficial task for both of you.
> 
> **Jaehee Kang**: I must agree with Zen, however. You don't seem like yourself, Yoosung.
> 
> **Yoosung:** Of course I'm myself! I just ate too much at lunch. The vegetables gave me too much energy. That's why I'm Super Yoosung! ^^
> 
> **ZEN:** ...
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Having a youthful spirit isn't a crime.
> 
> **ZEN:** Y-youthful..! Did you see what he wrote up there?! If it wasn't Yoosung, I'd swear he was on something!
> 
> **Yoosung:** >:( What is that supposed to mean?
> 
> **ZEN:** Come on, I've never even seen you drink. Are you old enough to drink yet?
> 
> **Yoosung:** I'm 21!!! ZEN!
> 
> **ZEN:** Then stop acting like a hyperactive ten-year-old.
> 
> **Yoosung:** T___T
> 
> **Yoosung:** I thought this would be a good distraction
> 
> **Yoosung:** From a boring lecture
> 
> **Yoosung:** I HATE YOU ZEN
> 
> **Yoosung:** AND I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S OLD ENOUGH TO DRINK!
> 
> **ZEN:** Oh, man, Yoosung -
> 
> **ZEN:** I didn't mean

_ **Yoosung has logged out of the chatroom.** _

> **Jumin Han:** Congratulations. Not only have you managed to insult Yoosung, but you have convinced him to drink in the middle of the afternoon.
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I'd applaud your stupidity
> 
> **Jumin Han:** _but I can't clap hard enough._
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Perhaps Seven could come up with a device to do so?
> 
> **ZEN:** ...
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Zen, I'm sure Yoosung will come to his senses. As you said, he was acting very irrationally just now. I'm sure he'll be back later and he'll feel much better.
> 
> **ZEN:** ..Thanks, Jaehee.
> 
> **ZEN:** I should get going.
> 
> **ZEN:** I'll talk to you later.
> 
> **Jumin Han:** No parting words of wisdom?
> 
> **ZEN:** **SHUT UP.**
> 
> **Jumin Han:** :3

** _ZEN has logged out of the chatroom._ **

> **J****aehee Kang:** Sir, if I might be frank..
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Then who would I be?
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** ...
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** _I think you should stop antagonizing Zen._
> 
> **Jumin Han:** =^_^=
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** ... *sigh*
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I should go, we have a meeting soon.
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I'll take my leave first.

_ **Jaehee Kang has logged out of the chatroom.**_

> **Jumin Han:** ...
> 
> **Jumin Han**: *spams cat pictures of Elizabeth the 3rd*
> 
> **Jumin Han:** *all the cat pictures!*
> 
> **Jumin Han:** *and a parting shot of Elizabeth the 3rd's paw, just to be a jerk*

_ **Jumin Han has logged out of the chatroom.** _

* * *

Hours later, Zen found himself pacing around his apartment wondering for the umpteenth time how Yoosung was. He'd tried calling the boy, but Yoosung hadn't picked up. He'd checked the chatrooms a little while ago and saw all the cat pictures that trust fund jerk had put up and now he had to deal with his allergy on top of everything else!

Zen sniffled as all the cat pictures surfaced in his mind and tried hard to think of anything besides that. Maybe he should go visit Yoosung? Yoosung hated it when Zen tried to look after him, but Zen could tell that Yoosung was also secretly happy about it. Like last night when Zen had shown up to help him with making lunch.

Zen winced as he thought of the chat earlier that day. He really put his foot in his mouth. He didn't mean to! It's just that Yoosung acted like such a little kid sometimes..

Ugh..

Did it hurt more when _Zen_ treated him like that?

He and Yoosung were good friends and then to have Zen treat him as something.. well, lesser than _him_ must hurt, right?

Oh geez.

Granted, his looks were unparalleled, but..

Zen sighed and threw on his favorite leather jacket.

He hoped Yoosung would forgive him.

* * *

Mabel stood behind the counter at the convenience store and couldn't help looking at the door every other minute, wondering if that grumpy maid would come in or else if she'd see 707 again.

She'd already looked all around the store, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She wondered if he was stalking her. He'd seemed horrified at her suggestion of it earlier, but..

That hadn't stopped him with his creepy text.

Mabel jumped a little when she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. She pulled it out to see she had a text from the infamous 707 and also Ray.

_Ray: I hope you're having a good evening Mabel. ^^ Don't eat too much chocolate, okay?_

_707: If you're looking for me, I'm buried in work. T_T_

Mabel sent Ray a thank you text and then stared at 707's text. She had thought he was nice, but he was freaking her out. Why would he keep an eye on her through.. however he was doing it? He did say he was a hacker, maybe he hacked something?

She glanced at the door to the convenience store to see that the extremely handsome guy had walked in again. Mabel quickly tucked her phone back into her pocket and grabbed her rag, studiously wiping down the counter to look busy.

She looked up when she saw something placed down onto the counter in front of her gently. She blushed a little to see that he was looking at her earnestly. It was a look that reminded her a little of Yoosung and looked out of place on this beautiful person's face.

"Hey, have you seen someone about this tall," Zen held up his hand to indicate Yoosung's height, "who has blond hair and purple eyes recently?"

Mabel blinked and tilted her head.

That sounded like...

"Ah, nevermind.. Of course you haven't heard of him," the man said, looking dejected.

Mabel bit her lip but rang up his purchase. She watched as he grabbed the six-pack and left the store, wondering if she should have written him a note, asking more about this person.

  
He couldn't have been talking about Yoosung, right?

* * *

It didn't take long for Zen to reach Yoosung's place. He parked his bike and unloaded the small trunk of the six-pack he'd bought. It was a sort of peace offering, but he wasn't sure if Yoosung would be up for it. After Yoosung's reaction in the chat, he was expecting the door to be slammed in his face.

Zen entered the building thanks to a helpful resident and was soon knocking on Yoosung's door. When there was no answer, he tried the door and was surprised to discover that it was unlocked. He entered the tiny apartment and looked around.

"Yoosung? You ok?" Zen called out as he shut the door behind himself.

"..ughhh.."

Zen heard a low groan and hastily set the six-pack down on the ground as he rushed over toward the noise. He finally found Yoosung in the bathroom, laying on the floor.

"Y-Yoosung?" Zen asked.

"..'m dying..." Yoosung told the bathroom floor.

He was sprawled out near the toilet and looked pale and shaky. His amethyst eyes looked glazed as he stared off at nothing in particular.

"Jeez, what did you drink?" Zen muttered as he knelt by Yoosung and placed a hand on his forehead. He frowned as it felt a little warm.

"...e..everything.." Yoosung answered in a whimper.

Zen shook his head and tried to help Yoosung up to his feet. Yoosung had to stop and greet the toilet as his stomach lurched and after it seemed settled a bit, Zen practically carried Yoosung out of the bathroom and to his bed. He got Yoosung situated under the covers and put a cold cloth on his forehead.

Once he was sure Yoosung wasn't going anywhere, he searched around the mess of an apartment and found several empty bottles that hadn't been there earlier. Zen gave a huge sigh and began to tidy up a bit.

  
Honestly, Yoosung was such a kid at times.

While he tidied, he also heated a can of chicken noodle soup for Yoosung, thinking the broth would do him some good. While the soup was heating, he went back to tidying and grimaced at the stack of books and papers tossed carelessly to one side of Yoosung's desk, as his computer dominated most of it.

Why did Yoosung have to go on a drinking binge in the middle of the week?! Zen had an audition to prepare for and Yoosung still had school the next day!

After Zen got the apartment into some semblance of order, he went back over by Yoosung and nudged him.

"Hey, do you have class in the morning?" Zen asked him quietly.

Yoosung only answered with a groan, which Zen was hoping meant no. He sat down on the edge of Yoosung's bed as he waited for the soup to heat up and heard two different ringtones go off. Pulling out his own phone he saw that someone had opened up an RFA chat.

Glancing at Yoosung, Zen clicked on it. He scrolled back to see the archives and wasn't surprised to see an almost completely incoherent message from Yoosung to Seven, demanding something or other. What that could be, however, Zen had no clue.

  
_**ZEN has entered the chatroom.**_

> **707:** lololol
> 
> **707:** Why is Yoosung leaving me drunk voicemails?
> 
> **ZEN:** What did he say?
> 
> **707:** _drunkYoosung.mp3_

Zen clicked on the mp3 file and Yoosung's voice suddenly blared out of his phone's speakers.

_"Sebeeen..!! I fergot her numbeeer...! I forgot.. *hic*.. fergot.. ta get it... Sebeeen.. could.. could you... You get it! I neeed it.. Seben..."_

> **7****07:** I know our boy Yoosung is desperate
> 
> **707:** But asking me to hack a girl's number?
> 
> **707:** lol

Zen almost facepalmed at that. Thank god he didn't have whatever girl's number that was or else he'd have an extremely embarrassed and weepy Yoosung calling him up later about his regrets.

> **ZEN:** Yoosung apparently thought it would be a good idea to drink his body weight in alcohol.
> 
> **ZEN:** Now he's sicker than a dog.
> 
> **707:** Our dear sweet baby
> 
> **707:** Let us pray for this child in need
> 
> **ZEN:** Don't worry, I got this.
> 
> **ZEN:** I went over to check on him. I don't think he'll be able to go to school tomorrow though.
> 
> **707:** lololol
> 
> **707:** You say that as if he was actually planning to go.
> 
> **ZEN:** Yeah.. He was probably going to skip to play LOLOL. It looks like he's been neglecting his school work. I see a lot of papers laying around.
> 
> **707:** _Engage Zen's Overprotective mode!_
> 
> **707:** Otherwise known as: M.O.M.
> 
> **ZEN:** Hey!
> 
> **707:** With Mother Zen looking after our Baby Yoosung, he'll be better in no time!
> 
> **707:** Now
> 
> **707:** I have to work!
> 
> **707:** No more drunk calls from Yoosung, Mother Zen!
> 
> **707**: I am counting on your motherly nature to persevere!
> 
> **707:** Use your motherly instincts
> 
> **707:** To hide Yoosung's phone!
> 
> **707: **I believe in you!
> 
> **707:** _Activate Seven Zero Seven's ghost mode!_
> 
>   
_**707 has logged out of the chat.**_

_ **ZEN has logged out of the chat.** _

Zen rolled his eyes at Seven's antics, but he did take the opportunity to get up and find Yoosung's cell phone. He tucked it away in a desk drawer, positive that a drunk Yoosung wouldn't be able to find it.  
Once the soup finally heated up, Zen went to grab it and resigned himself to being in "MOM" mode as Seven had so eloquently put it. Hopefully, Yoosung would recover by sometime tomorrow so Zen could go home and practice his lines.

* * *

The next day Mabel did her morning dash to school, although she was running a little late this time because she had spent extra time making a nice lunch for her and Yoosung to share. She thought of the beautiful man that had visited the convenience store and wondered if he somehow knew Yoosung.

Should she ask, or would that be weird?

..It would probably be weird. Besides, would it be rude to ask about another guy while she was with Yoosung?

It wasn't like it was a date.

Right?

Mabel had been half expecting to run into Yoosung as she ran into school that morning, but she didn't see him. Nor did she see him in any of her classes that morning, although she was pretty sure she shared a class or two with him.

When lunchtime finally rolled around, she looked all around for Yoosung, but she didn't see him anywhere. Feeling a knot of dread in her stomach, she wandered off to the cafeteria by herself.

When she arrived, she looked around but didn't spot him anywhere. She quietly took a seat at an empty table and got out the lunch she'd prepared. She set it all up on the table and looked around.

No sign of Yoosung.

Mabel spent most of lunch waiting for Yoosung before she fished her phone out of her pocket. She didn't have any texts from strange numbers, although 707 had sent her another teasing text about the man that had been in the store the other day.

Mabel stared forlornly at the meal she'd put so much hard work into and then returned to her texts.

_Mabel: What do you do if someone promises you something, and then they don't show up?_

_Ray: What do you mean?_

_Ray: Did someone hurt you?_

_Ray: Who is it?_

Mabel was a little surprised at the rapid-fire texts she got back from Ray. She would've asked 707, but she was still a little afraid of him and she recalled that he kept saying how busy he was.

_Mabel: ..It's nothing._

_Mabel: I'm just feeling a little down._

_Mabel: I thought I had a friend, but I guess not._

_Mabel: I'm just tired of being all alone._

_Ray: Mabel..._

_Ray: Hearing that hurts my heart._

_Ray: Of course you aren't alone!_

_Ray: You have me, don't you? ^^_

_Ray: Why don't you have some chocolate and get a taste of paradise?_

_Ray: That always makes me feel better._

_Mabel: I don't know._

_Mabel: I haven't been feeling well lately._

_Mabel: I don't think the chocolate agrees with my stomach._

_Ray: It must be the filling._

_Ray: It's a special blend. That's why I sent you more chocolate yesterday. I adjusted the way I blended the filling a little._

_Ray: You should eat that!_

_Ray: Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better, Mabel._

_Mabel: I guess._

_Mabel: Thanks, Ray._

Mabel tucked her phone away and dug out her baggie of chocolates from her school bag. She had put some fresh chocolates in there since her supply was running low.

She plucked out one of the newer ones, which looked more milk chocolatey and stared down at it pensively. She wished Yoosung had shown up like he said he would.

She thought that she'd finally be able to have friends.

She should have known better.

With that thought, she stuffed the chocolate in her mouth.


	4. Pinky Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray makes a promise, Yoosung realizes he broke a promise while V is drowning in doubts and Seven realizes he's being a creeper. But Seven can't stop because he's determined to get to the bottom of everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, just a reminder that there are spoilers for everything. I feel like the "routes mashed together" tag probably implied it, but just saying. Spoilers abound, especially for 707's route.

Ray had been feeling terrible ever since he had gotten Mabel's text. She had sounded so sad, and the only thing he could tell her to do was to taste a little paradise in the form of the chocolates he gave her.

He couldn't help it though..

If he wanted Mabel to be able to go to the _real_ paradise, she had to get used to the chocolates. He'd done his research on her and he knew that she needed paradise badly, but that she wouldn't be able to handle the elixir as it was. She was very sensitive to medication and even a little bit had a strong effect on her. He'd been surprised when his chocolates had such a negative effect on her, so he'd reworked the elixir he'd used in them to create a batch that wasn't so strong.

He was trying to create an elixir that would be just strong enough for only her and he was fine-tuning it in his chocolates. But now he wasn't sure if even his chocolates were enough to bring her out of her misery. He couldn't say he could understand her desire to have friends since he'd never had any friends either. But he could understand what it was like to be left cold and lonely, which is what he'd been until the Saviour had rescued him.

Now it was up to him to rescue Mabel.

But how could he rescue her?

He thought for a moment, and then suddenly he knew.

Which is how he found himself in front of her apartment later on in the afternoon, leaving her more flowers in front of her doorstep. In addition to the usual orange rose, he also left her a lovely bouquet of gardenias. Gardenias had many different meanings, but his favorite meant secret or untold love. He had wrapped the bouquet with a magenta ribbon.

Today he'd opted to wear a magenta hoodie with the hood up and as he rushed out of Mabel's apartment building, he was wondering if that was a wise choice. He'd gotten several strange looks, looks that he hadn't gotten when he'd worn the black hoodie.

But black...

It reminded him of _him_, and he didn't want to be _him_.

He was Ray.

He loved flowers.

And he also loved -

He felt something bump into him and he blinked in surprise and looked down see -

OMYGOSH..!!!

Mabel looked up at the person wearing a magenta hoodie curiously as she backed away from him. She gave him a rather apologetic look and went to walk around when arms shot out to grab her shoulders.

"W-wait," The person said desperately to her.

Mabel blinked as she looked up at him, the hoodie casting his face in shadow and blocking his lips from her view. She stood on her tiptoes to reach up and gently push the hood back to reveal a shock of white hair with pinkish reddish tips and the most unusual mint-colored eyes she'd ever seen.

Ray stared down at her in surprise and felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

This wasn't supposed to happen..!

He wasn't supposed to meet her!

Not yet...

Mint eyes stared down into gray ones as they both looked at one another.

An odd expression crossed Ray's face as he saw those eyes..

_Her_ eyes...

The eyes that made him want to throw her away from him and save her all the more.

He tightened his grip on Mabel's shoulders without meaning to and didn't notice her flinch.

"Don't go," he said softly to her.

She tilted her head as she stared up at him curiously. He looked so familiar to her. Had she seen him somewhere before? Had he come to the store?

"..I.." Ray said hesitantly before he took a deep breath. "..I'm... Ray."

Mabel's gray eyes widened in surprise at the admission.

So this was Ray..!

"..I felt so sad when I got your text, Mabel," Ray continued, "and.. and.. I want to be your friend. N-not as just a text friend either.."

Mabel didn't know what to say.

That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.

"Oh! D-don't cry!" Ray exclaimed as he saw tears well up in Mabel's eyes. He gently reached out and wiped them away as they fell down her cheeks. "Don't cry.. I won't leave you, Mabel. I won't promise you one thing and then leave you. I would never do that."

Ray pulled Mabel into a gentle hug and Mabel found herself clutching the front of Ray's hoodie as she cried.

She hadn't realized how lonely she had been until she'd met Yoosung, who had been so nice to her. Sure, lunch had been incredibly awkward, but they had agreed to meet today.

Then when he hadn't come...

She had wondered if he would be like all the others.

The ones who talked behind her back and whispered to their friends.

It had hurt more than she cared to admit.

Ray held her as though she were made of glass and he gently pulled away only to reach up and brush his fingers against her cheek.

"I'll always be here for you, Mabel," he said softly to her.

Fresh tears filled Mabel's eyes, but she blinked them back. She wiped the wetness away from her cheeks as she tried hard to smile for Ray.

"Do you.." Ray took a deep breath and gathered his courage. "..Would you want to get some ice cream?"

Mabel's fake smile turned into a small real one at that and she nodded, only for her face to fall. She had only stopped home briefly before she took off for work.

She gestured helplessly at the apartment and then off towards the convenience store.

Ray furrowed his brow as he tried to understand her. He knew all about the accident, so he knew that she couldn't hear for the most part or speak at all.

"Are you busy?" he finally asked, his expression falling.

Mabel made a so-so gesture and then held up a finger to tell Ray to wait a moment. She patted him on the arm and then dashed inside her apartment building quickly.

A few minutes later she returned after changing her shirt and scarf to her favorite magenta (she wasn't trying to be cute and match Ray, nope) and after washing her face.

She shyly reached out and took hold of Ray's hand and began to lead him off.

"..I.. thought you said we couldn't get ice cream?" Ray asked her after a minute, but of course, Mabel didn't know he even said anything since she wasn't facing him.

Ray looked around in bewildered bemusement as he was lead to a convenience store and he had just enough time to pull up his hood before he was lead inside.

Mabel waved at the person behind the register and with a "thank god!" the person practically ran out of the store. Mabel let go of Ray's hand and gestured at him to wait while she hurried into the back.

When she returned she was wearing an ugly green apron that had a nametag on it and she gestured at Ray to follow her.  
Ray trailed after her as she lead him to the freezer section and she happily pointed out the small pint ice creams.

That was when it dawned on Ray.

Mabel obviously had to work (which was why she was wearing a uniform and they were at a convenience store) but she had still wanted to share ice cream with him, which they could do if they shared the small ice creams that the store sold.

  
He grinned at that, though with his face cast mostly in shadow it looked particularly sinister.

* * *

Seven's circles were darker under his eyes and sleep? What was that? His phone occasionally made noises that he ignored as he typed frantically on his keyboard. He'd been screwing around with the RFA chat the other day and it had cost him dearly. While it had been fun to tease about a drunk Yoosung (because drunk Yoosung was hilarious), it had put him even further behind in his work.

Vanderwood, who had cleaned the bunker to within an inch of its life and taken to very loudly cleaning his gun right behind Seven (making Seven flinch every time he heard Vanderwood), was not amused.

So yeah.

No sleep.

Thankfully Vanderwood had to eat, so he was currently in the kitchen trying to whip something up for an early dinner. Seven rubbed his eyes tiredly, almost knocking his glasses off his face as he moved the mouse to his other monitor and brought up the security camera to the convenience store.

He could tell he'd been creeping Mabel out with his surveillance of her, but he couldn't help it. He was determined to discover her secret of why she was so jittery all the time. It couldn't be what Vanderwood said. It just couldn't.

"I don't hear typing!" Vanderwood called out as there as a lull in the noises coming from the kitchen.

Seven loudly pressed some keys on his keyboard and he sighed in relief as the kitchen noises resumed. He continued his typing while keeping half an eye on the camera and paused when Mabel entered the store holding someone's hand.

Who was that?

Seven squinted at the monitor as though that would make the grainy resolution better. It looked like someone in a hoodie.

Was that.. a guy?

He watched Mabel scurry off to the back, only to return moments later in her store uniform. The camera followed them as Mabel lead the person to the freezer section of the store.

Mabel gestured at one of the cases, their faces turned toward the camera that was pointed directly at them.

Seven saw a flash of white in the darkness covering the guy's face as the guy gave the creepiest smile that Seven had ever seen.

Holy.

Fu -

"You better be working!" Vanderwood's voice called out again. "Don't make me chain you to your chair! Or need I remind you that _my_ life is at stake too?"

Seven yelped and started typing immediately with one hand while he pulled out his phone with the other. He started to expertly text with one hand while the other was consumed with codes.

_707: Are you safe?_

_707: Who is that person?_

Much to his chagrin, however, his frantic texts were ignored by Mabel and he could only watch as Mabel and whoever the creepy guy was shared a pint of ice cream behind the counter near the register. They were both leaning on the counter and each had a spoon in their hand as they ate small scoops of the ice cream.

Mabel's face was clearly seen on the camera, but the guy had his back to the camera, so Seven couldn't make anything out at all about him. A lock of brown hair fell in Mabel's face, escaping the cute ribbon she always tied her hair back with and Seven watched as the creepy guy gently brushed it back, tucking it behind her ear.

Was the creepy guy.. a boyfriend?

A small smile appeared on Mabel's face at the gesture and it was then that Seven realized he had hardly ever seen her smile.

  
Not this smile.

Not this small, fragile smile.

He had always seen her give friendly smiles to the customers, but he realized that he had never seen her give a real smile.  
He felt his heart clench at the thought that this innocent girl had to hide part of herself away like that.

Was she only like that at the store, or was she like that all the time?

He thought back to her texts and a pained look crossed his face.

No.

She wasn't like that.

She couldn't be.

She wasn't like Seven.

* * *

Mabel felt a drop of wetness on her hand as she reached out to take another scoop of ice cream. She stared at it in surprise and then looked up at Ray.

Ray gave a wet chuckle and hastily wiped the back of his hand across his face.

"I d-don't know why I'm crying," Ray sniffled. "I'm so happy to be sharing ice cream. I love eating ice cream and I n-never get to share it.."

An image of two small boys with red hair and golden eyes appeared in his mind, but he hastily shoved it away.

Mabel gave Ray a look of understanding as if to say she never got to share ice cream either. She took a scoop of ice cream and ate it as Ray tried to compose himself.

Soon his trembling hand was reaching out for his scoop and Mabel gave him another small smile, unaware that someone on the other side of the security camera was watching their every move.

The bell chimed as Mabel took another scoop of ice cream and she started when Ray gently nudged her shoulder. She looked up at him, and he gestured out at the store. When she turned to look, she blushed when she saw it was that guy again.

Why was he coming to the store so often?

It wasn't long before the guy was standing before them after placing several items on the counter. He flashed Mabel a dazzling smile and Mabel ducked her head in embarrassment.

Ray scowled at the guy and the guy's ruby eyes took in Ray curiously. He'd never seen the store girl have help of any sort before.

"Who's this?" the guy asked curiously.

"None of your business," Ray told him curtly as Mabel rung up the purchases.

"Ah.." the guy said uncomfortably as Mabel tapped the screen that showed the total, unaware of the conversation that had taken place.

Soon everything had been paid for and the guy left with a sigh, but not before looking curiously at the creepy guy in the hoodie.

Zen's instincts were telling him that this guy was bad news, but it wasn't his place to say anything. He had looked back at the girl one last time, but she didn't seem to be in any duress. So with a troubled feeling, he'd left the store with his soup to go back and tend to Yoosung, who was being overly dramatic and swearing he was dying.

After that, Ray and Mabel had finished their ice cream, with Ray getting the last scoop. Instead of eating it himself, however, he'd hesitantly held it out to Mabel, who had blushed and obliged him by eating the last bite.

Once he was sure that Mabel was looking at him, he gave her a sad smile.

"I have to get going, Mabel," Ray told her.

She nodded, but her eyes looked downcast.

"Don't worry. I have something special planned for you," Ray told her with a smile.

Mabel pointed at herself in surprise and Ray nodded.

"It's just for you," he said. "I hope you'll like it.. It will be a way for me to bring you to paradise. Would you like that?"

Mabel tilted her head curiously to the side as she considered it. Ray sometimes said funny things like that, but he was so sweet and kind that she usually overlooked it.

But now..

What did she think of it?

Ray leaned in and kissed her on the forehead and chuckled as Mabel turned very pink.

"Think about it, won't you? You don't have to decide right now.. But.. I hope you'll agree to go to paradise with me."

Mabel nodded and crossed her heart, and Ray held out his pinkie.

"Promise.. Promise me you'll consider it. That you'll stay with me."

As Mabel hooked her pinkie with Ray's, several miles away Seven let out a huge gasp.

Seven stared at the interlocked pinkies, the scene so heartbreakingly familiar.

He'd done that with...

No..

..No...

He wasn't supposed to think about that!

And this guy was creepy!

He wasn't...

And Mabel...

She..

She wasn't...

"..Argh..!" Seven harshly closed the screen that had the security feed on it and started feverishly typing code into his main screen, trying desperately to keep his memories at bay.

* * *

V sat in his home as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. He'd been trying to figure things out, but he wasn't sure how well he was doing. Various fliers sat in front of himself. All of them had a mint shaped eye boldly at the top and although the wording was slightly different on each one, all promised the same thing.

Paradise.

V squinted down at the flyers, his thoughts drifting away to the children he promised to keep safe.

How safe were they really?

"Rika.." he said softly to the fliers as he tried to keep them in focus. "Why must you make those around you suffer? You were golden light.. The sun... Why did you have to let your pure light be hidden away by clouds?"

V shook his head sadly and got up to his feet. He had told Seven and Jumin that he was taking a trip soon, but he had been purposely vague on where that would be. He had been taking several trips these past few months, trips he wasn't supposed to be making in his condition.

Jumin was adamantly against everything, but V knew that only he could change things. Only he could make things right.

Tears pricked at his eyes and he harshly brushed them away, cursing his eyes once again.

Why mint eye?

_Why?_

* * *

Yoosung was so miserable over the next few days. Zen had taken care of him most of Wednesday night and all day Thursday, but he still felt awful. He'd gone to all his classes (Zen had made Yoosung promise before he would leave) and went to lunch like normal but Mabel had been ignoring him. He'd tried to apologize, but she wouldn't seem to look his way when he was speaking.

He was at a complete loss on what to do. What could he do? It was a moment of total stupidity, but.. well. He was a college student! This was his time to try stupid things, right?

Unfortunately, Mabel didn't seem to see it that way. In fact, he'd hardly seen her at all and he wondered if she was skipping classes. Feeling gloomy, Yoosung had taken to doodling in his notebook during class and he thought more of returning to LOLOL and breaking his promise to Zen.

Unknown to him, Mabel was being very distracted by a certain hooded figure. He texted her often throughout Friday and he'd offered to go out to lunch with her. He hadn't gotten her to confess what had made her so sad, but he'd figured out it had something to do with lunch, so his goal was to distract her at school and through lunch so she wouldn't have time to be sad.

  
So it was Friday afternoon that Mabel rushed off as soon as the bell for lunch rang. She caught a glimpse of blond hair, but a well-timed text distracted her as she walked down the hall. She'd been out the door before she even realized she'd walked right past Yoosung.

Yoosung had looked like a kicked puppy as she walked past and he clutched his books to his chest. A friend called out to him, but Yoosung rushed off and went MIA the rest of the day.

Why wouldn't she forgive him?

* * *

Mabel sat outside under a nearby tree and smiled at Ray, who was there in another magenta hoodie. She was wearing light pink today and they were both sharing food from a container.

Ray had explained that he had sensitive skin, so he had to keep the hood of his hoodie up. Mabel had simply nodded at the explanation and soon the container of food was open as they each took turns taking bites of the food that Ray had prepared.

  
For dessert, there was a piece of chocolate cake that Ray insisted he divided himself.

"I know you have a sensitive stomach Mabel, so I hope you don't mind taking the smaller half," Ray said as he pointed out the much smaller portion of cake.

Mabel's smile grew a bit since she loved chocolate. She took a big bite of her piece and wasn't surprised that it wasn't just regular chocolate.

It was a minty chocolate.

Mabel demolished her piece of cake and Ray laughed at her eagerness.

"Do you love my baking that much?" he asked her lightly.

Mabel nodded and he smiled happily at her as he gently used his thumb to wipe a bit of chocolate frosting away from the corner of her mouth.

"I can't wait until we go to paradise," he said softly to her.

Mabel held out her pinky to him and he looked surprised before he hooked his pinky with hers.

"Soon," he promised her.

* * *

Later that evening, Mabel sat at the convenience store with a big smile on her face. If she could have, she would've been humming merrily to herself. Everything had been so wrong, but now it all seemed to be going so right.

She'd finally gotten some sleep last night and her favorite treat wasn't making her stomach upset anymore. She never felt better. She felt like she could dance on the clouds. She felt like she could reach out and touch the sun.

_Paradise._

Ray had promised her over and over that he would give her the paradise that she so desperately wanted.

She smiled happily to herself and only looked mildly surprised when the door suddenly opened and the familiar face of the mysterious 707 turned up. He was wearing the same outfit he had been wearing last time, but this time he looked more unkempt. He had huge dark circles under his eyes and he looked like he hardly had any energy to grab the case of PhD Pepper he had wandered over to.

He carried the case over to the counter and set it down as his dull golden eyes took in Mabel's overly happy form. He leaned in and squinted at her.

Dammit.

Why were her pupils dilated?

Mabel leaned away as politely as she could and went about ringing up the case of PhD Pepper. She shot him a questioning look, but he didn't say anything about it.

"Have you had anything funny lately?" Seven suddenly blurted out.

Mabel looked very confused as she shook her head.

Seven ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

Why was this bothering him so much?

What did he care if some convenience store girl was on drugs or not?

An image of two pinkies hooked together flashed in his mind and he ruthlessly shoved it away again.

"Thanks," he muttered to her as he paid for his purchase.

He turned to go stalk off when a familiar blond head of hair walked in.

"S-Seven?" Yoosung gasped in surprise.

"Yoosung, my wayward child!" Seven greeted Yoosung with a cheerful grin.

"Are you alright?" Yoosung asked as he took his Seven's disheveled appearance.

"Yep, never better~." Seven said cheerfully. "I just finished a job!"

"Great," Yoosung said sounding unenthusiastic.

"You aren't here to buy any alcohol, are you?" Seven suddenly asked him. "Do I need to call Mother Zen? Or Father V? They wouldn't like that their child is going astray~."

Yoosung scowled at him.

"Why are Zen and V my parents?"

Seven adopted the look of a wise person as he adjusted his glasses with a grin.

"Obviously because they both worry over you as mother and father should~."

Yoosung scowled at that and went to walk past Seven. He stopped in his tracks when he saw who was at the counter.

"M-Mabel?"

Light glinted off of Seven's glasses as he grinned at Yoosung.

"Ohohoho, tell your Uncle Seven how you know this mysterious girl!" he demanded.

Yoosung glanced at Seven with a frown.

"Why do you have to be so creepy?"

Mabel watched the exchange silently, only getting Yoosung's half of the conversation. She had to admit that absolutely none of it made any sense, and she wished she could have heard Seven's response to Yoosung's question since she felt it was a pretty valid one.

Seven grinned with his glasses still glinting, making him look even creepier than before.

"Tell Uncle Sevenny~," he said, his voice lilting at the end.

Yoosung gulped and took a step back.

"Uh.. um..! She's right there!" he gestured at Mabel who instantly tried to pretend she wasn't 'eavesdropping'. "Wouldn't that be awkward?"

Seven sighed, instantly feeling like a jerk since his first thought had been about her not being able to hear what they were saying anyway.

"Text me later," he said in a semi-serious tone as he patted Yoosung's shoulder and left with his PhD Pepper.

Yoosung looked super awkward and avoided the counter by heading to the snacks aisle. Eventually, he had to go up to the counter though, snacks in tow. He set them down and played with his fingers nervously as he heard his purchases being scanned and rung up. He kept glancing at Mabel while he was waiting for her to finish scanning.

Mabel got everything rung up and placed into a bag. She looked over at Yoosung expectantly, but he just stood there playing with his fingers. Mabel waited politely for a moment, but Yoosung seemed frozen. She hesitantly reached out and waved her hand in front of his face.

Yoosung startled and Mabel tapped the screen that showed how much he owed.

"Oh! R-right," Yoosung stammered as he fished out his wallet. He handed Mabel some money and she was quick to complete the transaction, handing him back his change and a receipt.

Yoosung grabbed the bag, but he didn't leave.

"Listen, I.. I'm sorry," Yoosung said after he took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to stand you up. I wasn't feeling well and I didn't go to my classes. I would've texted you, but I didn't have your number."

Mabel's eyes widened.

She hadn't even thought of that! She had thought the worst of Yoosung when he was probably laying in bed all day. But.. if he was sick, why wasn't he sick today? He didn't look sick at all.

Mabel slowly nodded, although it was clear to Yoosung from the pensive look on her face that she had her doubts about his story. Yoosung sighed sadly. At least she wasn't outright ignoring him.

"Let me make it up to you," Yoosung said. "We could.. um.. Get lunch together tomorrow?"

Mabel tilted her head.

Outside of school, that sounded...

Like a date.

Mabel shrugged and gestured at the store.

"Uh.. you.. have to work?" Yoosung hazarded a guess.

Mabel nodded.

"Well, we could get together when you're done working?" Yoosung tried again.

Mabel bit her lip. Did she want to get together with Yoosung? It had hurt so much when he hadn't shown up on Wednesday. What if that happened again?

She looked around on the counter and came up with a scrap paper. She located a pen and wrote something down before shoving the paper at Yoosung.

Yoosung looked surprised as he picked it up and read it.

_Promise._

_Promise you'll show up._

_Promise you won't make me wait._

Yoosung's fingers tightened on the paper and his amethyst eyes looked sad. He couldn't imagine what Mabel had been thinking when he never showed up. He never thought of how much that would hurt.

"I promise," Yoosung whispered as he looked at her with his sad eyes.

Mabel nodded and then took the paper back from Yoosung. She quickly wrote down her number and underlined the word promise before she gave it back to him.

Yoosung glanced down at the paper and then gasped when he saw she had written her number down.

He grinned.

He got a girl's number~!

"Thank you thank you thank you!!" Yoosung gushed as his mood soared. "You won't regret this, I'll make it up to you I promise!"

With that, Yoosung rushed out of the store with his purchases.

Mabel went to clean off the counter by the register when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to see she had a text.

_Ray: Do you want to get lunch tomorrow, Mabel? I have more chocolate cake for you. It's a new recipe. I'd like to bring you a little taste of paradise. ^^_


End file.
